Peter Jones: Tycoon In Schools

Well known for his appearances on the BBC business TV show Dragons’ Den, Peter Jones CBE, has backed a new initiative aimed at boosting the entrepreneurial spirit amongst schoolchildren with a new competition called Tycoon in Schools.

Investing £100,000 of his own cash into the venture, the competition aims to inspire Britain’s youngsters to start their own businesses, first pitching their ideas to their tutors in order to secure seed funding; winning a Tycoon Loan will help them get their startup off the ground.

Starting on the 1st of November 2012, the children participating in the competition will have exactly one month in which to launch their project and then make as much profit as they can. A Tycoon League Table will show the junior entreprenuers’ progress.

When the competition closes, on November 30th, the participating students will repay their loans to the Tycoon Bank and any remaining profit can be used by the schools.

The Tycoon in Schools initiative has been designed with the aim of teaching the budding entrepreneurs business acumen and developing prcatical life skills through experience.

Speaking about Tycoon in Schools, Peter Jones CBE said:

“Enterprise is the missing piece of the jigsaw in schools today. You can’t start early enough when it comes to learning about enterprise and through Tycoon in Schools we hope to reach young people of all ages and inspire them to realise their potential.

“This is just the beginning of an exciting new campaign to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to go for it. Our aim is to grow the competition each year, involving more schools and young people across the country and inspiring them to live out their entrepreneurial dreams.”

The Tycoon initiative is a welcome move after the Peter Jones-backed "Tenner Tycoon" competition was scuppered earlier in the year by some peculiar decisions out of the entrepreneur’s hands.

Jones, keen to kick-start the business instinct in the yonger generation, is backed by the fact that not enough schools support would-be entrepreneurs.

Schools interested in inspiring and encouraging a new generation of business minds can register their interest in the competition and need to get their application in by the 1st of September 2012. Just go to www.tycooninschools.com and fill in the application form.

There is also an account on twitter for the initiative, just see @Tycooninschools

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